Bitcoin price surges after Ukraine invasion sparked dramatic crash

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The price of bitcoin has dramatically recovered, following an equally spectacular plunge in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bitcoin is up more than 10 per cent in the last 24 hours, with some other coins performing even better. Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, has gained almost 13 per cent.

Overall, the cryptocurrency market is up more than 10 per cent over the last day, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap.

That is a marked contrast to its performance through much of the week. Despite the hopes of some proponents that it would see strong performance given the uncertainty in traditional markets, it actually matched them and dropped more than 10 per cent on Thursday.

Cryptocurrency’s promoters have long promoted as a safe haven, or digital gold, that could prove a useful store of value in times of turmoil.

That weak performance in recent days meant that most cryptocurrencies were still down over the week. Bitcoin – a relatively strong performer – has lost almost 4 per cent in the last seven days.